Overview
Pocket Chef
End-to-end iOS recipe app that works to limit food waste at the individual level
My Role:Researcher, UX/UI Designer
Background
Pocket Chef is a recipe app that limits food waste by encouraging users to get creative in the kitchen. Users input the ingredient(s) that they have and need to use, Pocket Chef generates the recipes Each year, an estimated 30-40% of the U.S. food supply is wasted! Globally, humans waste about 1.4 billion tons of food. When I moved out at the age of 23, I was faced with the struggle of learning to grocery shop for myself. I quickly learned that I was wasting so much food which was not only hurtful to my wallet, but hurtful to the planet as well. I wanted to focus on this topic because there are pain points that I can relate to and I know a lot of people around my age can also relate to. Especially in today’s world where grocery prices are constantly rising, wasting food can feel painful on a personal and worldly level.
Empathize
Competitive Analysis
Key Insights
After analyzing some potential competitors, I was able reference my findings throughout my design process. I drew the most inspiration from the focus on recipes that Tasty has and the emphasis on food waste that No Waste offers. As for UI components, I noted the cards used by both Pinterest and Tasty.
Research Interviews
Focus
Figure out where people struggle when it comes to limiting their food waste, what platforms they currently use, if any, and what types of platforms they believe would help them use all of their groceries
Goal
Get a better understanding of people’s pain points when it comes to making use of all of the groceries that they purchase
Who
I interviewed 5 individuals between age 23-30 who had concerns when it came to managing their own food waste
Key Insights
Image showing the insights from the research. Needs: Challenges and Solutions.
Define
Problem Statement
How might we design an app that allows users to find creative ways to use up all of their ingredients in a financially responsible way?
Personas
Why
After synthesizing the data from my research, I created a persona who represented my user base in order to continue designing with them in mind.
Meet Kelly!
Information Architecture
Ideate
User Flow
Idea
Recipe app to limit food waste by encouraging users to get creative in the kitchen. User inputs the ingredient that they have that they need to use (option to add more than 1 ingredient). App generates recipes based on user inputs (ability to add filters for special diets). Possibly adding an explore tab where you can find popular recipes. Potential for smart suggestions based off of ingredients that you regularly search.
Background
Kelly just got home from a long day at school and it’s time to cook some dinner. She notices she has some spinach that she bought earlier in the week that is about to go bad. In an attempt to limit waste she decides to check out the new app her friend told her about. How does Kelly move through the app?
To Note
The above user flow walks through the main purpose of the app which I wanted to emphasize with the limited time constraints. Focusing on building out this main function first and then building out the additional flows & features.
Feature Prioritization
When it came to buillding out an MVP with limited time constraints, I was faced with prioritizing the main features. While food waste resources was important to 40% of users, 100% of users mentioned that being able to use all groceries before they go bad would greatly help them. I believe the resources feature is a must in next steps but in order for the app to be up and running and help people now, this is where I started.
Design
Wireframes
LoFi Sketches
As a more visual thinker, I used these sketches to help define my user flow, as well as the layout of the app.
Digitized Wireframes
As a more visual thinker, I used these sketches to help define my user flow, as well as the layout of the app.
Branding
UI Kit
I created a UI kit for all the elements and details of Pocket Chef. I went with a sage green as the primary brand color because I wanted the app to feel very natural, organic, and minimalistic. I chose Poppins for the typography because it is a simple yet playful type face that is easy enough to look at while reading through recipes. Users tend to go back and reference instructions frequently. I wanted a type face that made that as easy on the eyes as possible.
High Fidelity Screens
Prototype
Test
Usability Testing
Debrief
I conducted usability tests for my user flow of finding and adding a recipe to favorites in the Pocket Chef app.  I spoke with 10 participants through various methods including in person, over zoom and a couple of participants who took part in my Maze usability test.  Results: Overall, users were able to complete the task with no errors. When I asked about any feedback on the design itself, however, 75% of participants mentioned the small cards on the recipes page may be too small and tough to sift through. They preferred a larger card layout with a bigger image and possibly adding more information about the recipe (i.e. dietary info).
Iterate
Priority Revisions
The first revision I made was creating larger cards. My initial design was inspired by the card layout on the Tasty app, however, users mentioned the image as a major factor in choosing a recipe.
The second revision I made was adding more nutrition information to the individual recipe. Users reported that they often like to choose recipes based off nutrition facts and whether or not the recipe falls into any dietary categories, like gluten free.
Conclusion
Next Steps
Features
Another tried and true solution to food waste is compost. 40% of my research participants put a large emphasis on composting and how it was not very accessible to them but they really try to use it as a way to limit food waste. A big feature that I intended on adding but due to time constraints could not go ahead and design was a Recycle tab (included on the nav bar) this tab is a place for tips on how to limit food waste (methods such as composting) as well as linking resources to find nearby compost sites and any information. Future iterations of the Pocket Chef app will include the building out of this feature.
Takeaways
Many of the users that I spoke with mentioned that this was an incredibly useful app that they would have loved to use in their day to day lives.
Challenges
Some challenges I faced during this project were knowing when to stop designing and when I needed to iterate more. I got caught up in trying to perfect everything for this project because I really cared about solving the problem. However, while spending more time on certain aspects of the process, I found myself sacrificing time spent on other areas including:
Pocket Chef branding and UI design - Building out the additional features - More user testing and iterating